Police facing questions over the search for missing black student nurse Owami Davies issued the wrong pictures of her, it has emerged.
Owami, 24, left her home in Grays, Essex, on 4 July and was last seen in Croydon, south London on 7 July.
Scotland Yard released CCTV images on August 3 from a shop in Croydon of a woman it said was Owami.
The pictures were published by a number of media outlets but the force apologised hours later saying they were of another woman.
New images were then released.
It comes as the police watchdog considered whether to investigate after officers came into contact with Owami after she had been reported missing.
The Met said police spoke to her in Croydon on July 6, but did not yet know she was a missing person.
Labour MP Diane Abbott said on Monday: "They engaged with the young woman after she had been reported [missing] and then they put up the wrong picture.
"You have to conclude that there are some police officers who don't take issues in relation to women or ethnic minorities entirely seriously."
Owami's family reported her missing to Essex Police on July 6 and the force handed the investigation over to the Met on 23 July.
The force said officers were called to an address in Clarendon Road, Croydon, to concerns over the welfare of a woman on July 6.
But she told them she did not want help and left after an ambulance was called.
Five men have been arrested - two on suspicion of murder and three on suspicion of kidnap. All have been released on bail, pending further investigation.
The last CCTV of Owami was taken about 12.30pm on Thursday, 7 July and showed her in a dark jacket, red t-shirt, light grey joggers, sliders and carrying a white handbag.
She was walking north on London Road, away from West Croydon and towards Norbury.
A Met spokesperson said: “Our efforts to find Owami are being led by a team of detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, who are experts in complex investigations. They are supported by resources from local policing teams and are working night and day to pursue every possible line of inquiry.
“As of Tuesday this week they had recovered 50,000 hours of CCTV and had viewed 10,000 hours as they work to confirm possible sightings and trace Owami’s movements. They continue to carry out additional patrols in the area she was last seen in an effort to identify new leads.
“Any suggestion that the investigation is not being taken seriously and that we are not fully dedicated to finding Owami is not only disappointing, it is simply not supported by the facts.”
